We still don’t really know what happened to the old Tamarack Surf Beach Sign at the corner of Carlsbad Blvd and Tamarck. We know one thing for sure: the new sign is no comparison. Ugly, ugly, ugly. Thanks, Arnold!
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The Tamarack Surf Beach sign that featured a longboarder doing a stylish cutback has apparently disappeared from its past location. We’re hoping it was just taken down for cleaning. . . anyone have any ideas?
Update 5:48 PM: The City of Carlsbad doesn’t know what happened to the sign, though they did say that “the State” was doing some work on the bluff, so “maybe they took it down to clean it.”
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On Thursday April 10, 2008 the California Coastal Commission was scheduled to hold a hearing (and vote) regarding the The California Department of Parks and Recreation‘s request to install a “mechanical fee collection device at Carlsbad State Beach Parking lot” at Tamarack Surf Beach where State Parks hopes to charge a flat rat of $8.00 per day to park in the lot. The hearing has now been postponed according to the Coastal Commission .
We mentioned this the first time on November 17, 2007 when the pending permit notice went up on the Tamarack sign. Now, it looks like it will proceed, as the Coastal Commission staff is recommending approval.
Staff is recommending approval of the project with various special conditions. . . Special conditions include the requirement for a monitoring program to document any impacts to public access, or the development of additional public trails down the coastal bluff. A further special condition has been recommended to approve the parking fees on a trial three year basis.
Obviously, we believe this is a terrible idea for several reasons, most importantly being that it is going to simply push all the people up into Carlsbadistan. When parking on the streets is free and it costs $8.00 to park at the beach, where are people going to park? That’s right: in our neighborhood. We think it is completely selfish of the California State Parks to try to raise funds by packing our streets even more than they already are.
We have contact the Carlsbad City Managers office and will report back as soon as we have any more information.
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Remember those Tamarack Surf Beach pay parking warnings we mentioned earlier this week? One of our readers got one last Saturday. “The employee who left it on my car would not confirm that there would be a grace period, he said. “When asked about the newspaper and TV reports he said, ‘That’s what the media is saying.’
And from the looks of this warning, the media is right. Two more weeks of free parking at least.
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Today marks the beginning of week two of the California State Park systems charging for parking in the Tamarack Surf Beach parking lot. With “iron rangers” stationed at both the North and South ends of the parking lot more and more people are figuring out that free parking at Tamarack is definitely over.
“The parking lot was looking comparatively empty on Saturday afternoon,” said one Carlsbadistan reader. “Made me wonder if everyone is using the free neighborhood parking or if it was just the weather?”
When people realize they have to pay to park most will probably end up crowding out the already packed streets near the beach. “A friend of mine comes down everyday to take a short walk on the beach,” one man said. “But now I think she’ll either park up on the free streets or stop coming all together.”
According to the City of Carlsbadistan the State will be giving beach visitors a one-month warning period after which they will begin issuing parking tickets to those who do not properly display their paid parking stub in their window.
State Park Peace Officers and other state staff will distribute warnings and courtesy notices to visitors during the first month of the program. At the end of that period, vehicles not properly displaying a current pass or receipt will be issued a citation and fined up to $64.
The fees to park in the lot are currently $2 a hour or $10 a day, but don’t worry about paying until at least March 14, 2010.
Tell us how these fees will affect you by voting in our Carlsbadistan Poll in the right hand column just below the weather.
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One of the last great free parking lots on a California beach will soon be gone as the City of Carlsbad, the California Coastal Commission, and California State Parks have settled a lawsuit regarding the installation of a pay parking kiosk at Tamarack surfing beach (click here for previous coverage).
Under the settlement agreement, State Parks will charge hourly parking, with a two hour minimum and a maximum daily charge of $10, the same day rate fee charged at South Carlsbad State Beach’s Ponto beach. The hourly fee has not yet been set but is agreed to be $2 an hour or less. State Parks originally proposed only a day use fee. Under the settlement agreement, the requirements of the coastal development permit for the project that the California Coastal Commission approved will remain in full effect.
The thing that sucks most about this agreement is that it’s going to push even more people up into the neighborhood surrounding Tamarack and there are way too many people parking there already. The only good news is that people with California State Park parking passes will always have a spot at Tamarack because once they start charging for parking the lot will be mostly empty most of the time.
Follow the jump for the official press release from the City of Carlsbad.
[click to continue…]
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According to a story that appeared in the the San Diego Union-Tribune four days ago (we apologize for the lag, we don’t know how we missed it), the City of Carlsbad has “sued the California Coastal Commission and the State Park Department to prevent a proposed parking fee” at Tamarack Surf Beach.”
Carlsbad filed its lawsuit Monday in Vista Superior Court and sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the machine from being installed. That order was denied, but the state agreed not to install the machine until after the next court hearing, on Oct. 10.
We’re glad the Tamarack parking fee has been stalled until after summer is over. Thanks to the City for suing everybody.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
[Editors’ note: Click here to view all our coverage of the Tamarack parking fee issue.]
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Work has finally begun on the parking pay station at the Tamarack Surf Beach parking lot that we first reported on November 17, 2007 when the California State Parks and Rec department first filed to build “an automated fee collection device in the Tamarack day use lot.”
Though we had hoped that the City of Carlsbad would work something out with the State of California it looks like that plan failed. Paying $8 for beach parking in Carlsbad won’t be long now.
Read what Carlsbad resident Richard Riehl thinks about this in his “freelance” North County Times column.
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Don’t get too up in arms yet. While the state of California has approved turning the Tamarack Surf Beach Parking lot into a “fee lot” which could cost $8 a day, they are not putting the metering in until they meet with the City of Carlsbad, according to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times.
. . . state officials will meet with the city of Carlsbad to see if the city will pay to keep the lot free, said Brian Ketterer, superintendent of the state’s parklands in northern coastal San Diego County.
If the city puts up the money that the parking charge would have generated, then the state won’t install the fee device in the 120-space lot at the western end of Tamarack Avenue, he said.
The problem is that that state wants in excess of $200,000 from the city. Mayor Bud Lewis is reportedly “not optimistic.” Unless, of course, we all mention how important it is to all of us who use it.
[Link: North County Times]
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We broke this story in November, but now it looks like the $8 Tamarack Surf Beach parking fee is getting closer.
According to a release from the City of Carlsbad the parking fee will be discussed during the California Coastal Commission’s monthly meeting, slated for Thursday, May 8, 2008, at the Marina Del Rey Hotel, Marina Del Rey California.
Carlsbad officials oppose the proposal and have expressed concern over the insufficient noticing given to the public about the installation device as well as the adverse impacts to the surrounding neighborhoods and impact on public beach access if the proposal is approved. . . . Residents and those affected by the proposed parking fee are encouraged to fax or e-mail their concerns to Coastal Commission analyst Toni Ross at tross@coastal.ca.gov or fax at 619-7672384.
Not that it’s going to do any good, but we might as well complain while we have a chance.
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